In various industries, particularly the plumbing industry, tubing or conduits made from synthetic materials have gained wide acceptance and broad applicability. In general, the synthetic material employed comprises plastic polymers or composites, with cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) being the most dominant, and water distribution systems being the most popular field in which these products are employed. Furthermore, due to the flexibility and strength provided by these products, a wide range of applications and end uses has evolved.
In order to enable the various industries, including the plumbing industry, to employ tubing or conduits made from synthetic materials, connection systems are required in order to assure that the synthetic tubing/conduits are securely affixed to any desired pipe, fitting, or the like employed in the overall distribution system. In this regard, various connectors, clamps, or crimp rings have been developed to provide the required leak-free, clamped engagement.
In most typical applications, the pipe or fitting on which the tubing/conduit is mounted incorporates a terminating end having a barbed surface, smooth surface, grooved surface or other alternate configuration. By advancing the tube/conduit onto the end of the pipe/fitting in peripherally surrounding relationship to the surface configuration, the desired engagement is achieved. However, in order to assure secure, trouble-free, leak-free mounted engagement of the tubing/conduit on the desired fitting or pipe, a fastening number is typically employed to assure the desired sealed engagement is achieved.
In order to provide an easily installed, convenient, effective, and inexpensive sealed connection of the tube/conduit with the fitting/pipe, annular shaped crimp or sealing rings are typically employed. In a typical installation, the crimp ring is mounted about the flexible tube/conduit adjacent the end of the tube/conduit mounted to the fitting/pipe. Once in position, the crimp ring is peripherally surrounded by a crimping tool which is employed to physically compress the crimp ring into the flexible tubing for causing the diameter of the crimp ring to be reduced and providing the desired secure, sealed, mounted engagement of the tubing to the fitting.
Although the use of crimp rings have generally provided reasonably successful results in achieving the desired secure, sealed mounted engagement of the flexible tubes to the desired fittings, problems often occur with the position of the crimp ring relative to the barbs or grooves formed on the outer surface of the fitting. In this regard, if the crimp ring is not properly positioned relative to the barbs or grooves formed on the fitting, leakage zones or areas often develop. As a result, additional labor is required to attempt to position the crimp ring in the desired location. However, precise positioning is often difficult to achieve.
Some prior art crimp rings have attempted to resolve this problem by providing crimp rings of various constructions and configurations. In one such prior art construction, the crimp ring incorporates a rolled end or flange which enables the crimp ring to be mounted to the end of the flexible tube or conduit. By constructing this prior art crimp ring with a sufficient overall length, the positioning of the crimp ring in alignment with the barbs or grooves of the fitting is automatically achieved. However, these prior art crimp rings have proven to be difficult to compress uniformly in order to provide the desired sealed inter-engagement. In addition, many of these prior art constructions require the use of non-standard crimping tools, thereby increasing the difficulty of their use and broad acceptability.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a crimp ring construction which is virtually universally applicable and provides a rapid, easily achieved, sealed engagement of any desired tube or conduit with any desired fitting or pipe.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a crimp ring having the characteristic features described above wherein said crimp ring can be securely mounted in position using standard crimping tools.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a crimp ring having the characteristic features described above wherein said crimp ring is inherently flexible, enabling flexible tubes/conduits having a wide variety of diameters and thicknesses to be easily accommodated.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.